What questions should designers and contractors ask their clients?

Are you a designer or contractor that does remodelling or new construction projects?

Whether you are doing a single room project (kitchen reno), a full renovation or new build, what questions should designers and contractors ask their clients to better understand their technology needs?

Much like understanding how your clients like to cook, you need to understand how they want to live when it comes to technology. You don’t need to have the technical answers but consider the following situations…

• Let’s assume they are 65, the kids have all moved out and one of them is concerned about the future care of the other. Some of the things that are important to them now may not have been important to them 25 years ago.
• Now they DO want to watch TV in bed. When they were younger, they would be insulted if their friends or family thought about them watching movies in their bedroom.
• They still have a fairly big house and there are lots of light switches and window blinds to close at night. They are fine right now doing that at the end of the day but they would love to plan for a “kill switch” that let’s them turn off all the lights from their bedside or even better, automatically open the curtains in the morning so they can enjoy the gorgeous sunrise as they wake up at 6am. (You did give them that vision when you designed the $15,000 floor to ceiling windows)

• The girls are all between 9 and 12 and mom and dad would love for them to start having more of their friends over for movie night and sleep overs as they get into their teens.
• The basement has been used as a rec room and they have outgrown their toys.
• They would love to be able to keep the room multifunctional but also use it for 8 – 12 people watching a movie or playing video games.
  Dad would also love to have his buddies over to watch Sunday night football 😉
• Their budget isn’t extravagant but you aren’t exactly sure where everything needs to go and they have said that a 65″ TV just isn’t big enough. They want something like their friends have which is closer to 140″.

These situations are very simple and common but at the same time, the technology can be complicated.

How can you make this very easy on your clients and how can you make YOUR life simple so you can deliver the amazing results you are expected to deliver?

If you haven’t worked with a CEDIA professional in the past, these are projects they can definitely help you with. The earlier on you bring in your trusted technology partner, the better your finished results will be.

To hear from a well respected contractor in the Indianapolis area, watch this video presentation from the CEDIA booth at the design show in Indianapolis:

As the person or company responsible for delivering the results, you can leverage the experts when you need them. By asking simple lifestyle questions you will quickly find that most projects will include some level of technology.

Cloud 9 AV has been helping the design and builder community for over 15 years. Our system designers have the knowledge to help you and your clients with simple single room projects to whole home and multi-phased construction projects.

Contact us for more information or to visit our experience centre & showroom in Toronto’s Leaside.